Probably not. As screenwriter William Goldman once said, "Nobody knows anything...Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one."

That's not going to stop the studios from trying, though. Insiders will tell you that AI is being used to triangulate everything that has worked (and bombed) in order to "calculate" the perfect star, script, and hit.

But it's unlikely AI is ever going to successfully encapsulate the whimsy of public opinion or the mystery of the zeitgeist. There are no surefire hits in Hollywood.

But here's where A.I. is infiltrating entertainment in a big way: virtual humans and smart bots with engaging personalities.

During a panel at the Digital Hollywood conference in LA this week, Seth Greenfield from Tel Aviv-based start-up Imperson explained how his company worked with Universal Pictures to build an AI-empowered Doc Brown for the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future, who chatted with folks via Facebook Messenger.

"Our company came out of stealth last year in order to give personalities to AI; a computer that people could really talk to," he said.

When asked if users felt duped, Greenfield said that "As long as you don't show the strings, people will go along with it...because conversational interfaces are very engaging."

He pointed out that all the Imperson bots are gathering data in order to improve their interactions with humans. This leads to improved communication because humans are easily flattered by someone appearing to take an interest, even if it's virtual.

"There's memory being stored here," he said. "For example, it will remember what you liked and didn't like from prior experience. If it's a shopping bot, it will recall your history and purchases, and can make suggestions."

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But will it tell you if that shirt would look terrible? "It's all about authentic bi-directional conversations," Greenfield responded with a smile.

It's unlikely a bot is going to pass up a sale, but they're not on commission like human sales assistants, so maybe it would be in their interest to gain your trust on sartorial matters.

At Imperson headquarters, meanwhile, the company is experimenting with a chatbot intern named "artie" who's accessible via the homepage or the reception desk. The irony is that Imperson has quite a few interactive scriptwriters on staff, and an LA office, so even bots need a Hollywood polish.

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